SALT LAKE CITY – The Lakers won their third straight game without Kobe Bryant, ended the Utah Jazz’s nine-game winning streak with a 96-81 victory Wednesday night at EnergySolutions Arena and reached the All-Star break happy if not healthy.

So, what did the Lakers’ learn about themselves?

“I think we proved with these three games that we’re going to be OK, we’re going to be OK,” Pau Gasol said after scoring 22 points, grabbing 19 rebounds and adding four assists and five blocked shots. “It’s all about playing hard and playing together.

“It’s been a beautiful thing.”

Lamar Odom scored 25 points on 7-for-9 shooting and also had 11 rebounds.

“Sometimes when you lose a guy or two, your focus is there as a team,” Odom said. “In this building, it’s kind of easy to get embarrassed and run out of here. We just wanted to finish the right way before the break.”

To review, the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers on Saturday, ending their nine-game losing streak in Portland, and then knocked off the San Antonio Spurs on Monday at Staples Center before cooling off the scalding Jazz on their home court.

They won all three without Bryant, who has a sprained left ankle and might not play in the All-Star game Sunday in Arlington, Texas. They won the past two without Andrew Bynum, who suffered a bruised right hip in the first half against Portland.

Bryant left the arena without speaking to reporters.

Bynum said he might have a cortisone shot next week.

“We finished strong,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said after the team reached the break with a Western Conference-leading record of 41-13. “I was proud of them. We played well with the limited lineup we had out there.

“We need to pick it up again when we start on Tuesday (against Golden State).”

It might be difficult to resume the season with the same rhythm they displayed while dismantling the Jazz, when the led by as many as 21 points and never trailed. The first half featured a good deal of running and gunning and funning.

Gasol led a fast break, for instance. He also caught a lob pass from Shannon Brown for a layup. Brown is usually the one on the receiving end of lobs.

The backups supplied early eye-popping plays, too.

Sasha Vujacic had four assists and three steals in the first half; DJ Mbenga sprinted down the court like a point guard instead of a 7-foot center and capped two fastbreaks with dunks; and Jordan Farmar scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting.

Desperate isn’t quite the word that best described the Lakers’ play, but they seemed keenly aware that if they didn’t play with more energy they wouldn’t have a chance against the Jazz without Bryant and Bynum.

It was the same story as in their previous two games.

What’s more, they moved the ball all the way through their triangle offense more frequently without Bryant because they had to find other scoring options. Too frequently, they drop the ball into Bryant’s hands and stand back and watch him work.

As in victories over the Trail Blazers and the Spurs, the Lakers explored their many options until they found the right one. It meant plenty of chances for Gasol and Odom, and they capitalized eagerly in the Lakers’ free-flowing offense.

Gasol had 12 points and 12 rebounds in the first half. Odom scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Lakers led by 56-41 at halftime. It was a different look for the Lakers. The Jazz didn’t seem to know how to defend the Lakers.

At the other end of the court, the Lakers swarmed the Jazz all around the court and limited them to 18 points on 9-for-21 shooting (42.9 percent) in the first quarter. The Lakers’ superb defensive pressure set the tone for the rest of the game.

The Lakers took a 76-57 lead into the fourth quarter, and barring a total meltdown in the fourth quarter, there seemed zero chance they would let this one slip away. They led by as many as 21 points in the third, and all seemed right in their world.

Elliott Teaford covers the Clippers and the NBA for the Southern California News Group. He has written about hockey for the past five years and is looking forward to thawing out after so many days and nights sitting in frozen rinks. He also covered the Lakers for five seasons, including their back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and '10. He once made a jump shot over future Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton during a pickup game in 1980 at Cypress College.

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